


Houses and Hunts

by Stephoki



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 5k, AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Classes, Coffee, Coffee Shop, College, College Student Castiel, College Student Dean, Creepy, Fluff, Fluffy, Ghosts, Halloween, Halloween Challenge, Haunted House, Hunt, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, Jack-o'-lanterns, Jo Harvelle - Freeform, M/M, One Shot, Pumpkin - Freeform, Scared Castiel, Thriller, University, ghost - Freeform, ghosts aren't real, old house, or are they, scavenger hunt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 02:22:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12571608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stephoki/pseuds/Stephoki
Summary: "Spinning around he bolted for the door that was now closed. He knew he hadn’t closed it. He’d left it open just like Dean said they would so he could call out to him. His fingers scrambled for the door handle but it wouldn’t budge. "In an attempt to win a scavenger hunt, Dean and Cas find themselves in a house that's definitely not haunted. Or is it?





	Houses and Hunts

Dean ventured down the dirt road, a checked off list in his hand and his shoes scuffing on rocks and gravel that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. There were holes and dips in the ground that couldn’t be seen well in the daytime, let alone now in the pitch black. The moon overhead was covered in clouds, muffling whatever light could have reached the ground in front of him, and the old flashlight in his hand wasn’t helping much either. He stepped carefully over yet another hole and glanced back to find Cas in the shadows that danced across the road from trees blowing in the breeze. Cas’s shadow was the darkest, the whites of his eyes standing out from his dark hair, and the gloom that painted him black. Dean reached his hand out to help Cas over the hole and tugged him up beside him. 

“C’mon. We need to hurry up. We’re almost there. Just in and out right?” Dean jerked the flashlight towards the end of the road. The beam of light fell into overgrown trees, a wrought iron fence covered in ivy, and distantly, reflected back on the dirty window pane of a dilapidated house. 

“I don’t like this…” Cas breathed out, his fingers grabbing onto the back of Dean’s shirt to keep himself close. His palms were clammy and his breathing shallow as he stepped ever closer to the house. 

“This was your idea, Cas. You’re the one who wanted to do this scavenger hunt. Look, it will be easy. I’ll be with you and we just have to grab this jack o’ lantern and get out of there. Then we’ll be done. We’ll get the prize. That’s what you wanted right, the prize?” Dean cocked an eyebrow at him though he doubted that Cas would be able to see his expression. 

Sponsored by the Student Government, the scavenger hunt was supposed to be building teamwork and student participation. The prize was a good $500 dollars and unlimited coffee from the Night Owl, a coffee shop on campus that stayed open well past midnight when most other places were locked up. It was Cas’s favorite place to study and he insisted that he needed coffee at all hours of the night. Dean would have to admit that Cas’s ecology major had him studying and working on projects more than Dean’s business degree. He’d wake up in the middle of the night to take a piss and Cas would still be awake, bleary eyed and smacking away on his computer’s keyboard. Plus, Cas insisted that they could use the $500 for dorm room supplies and extra food. Dean had to agree that it was a pretty sweet deal. Which is why they were out here on midnight, Halloween just beginning, them marching down to a deserted house that was claimed to be haunted. 

Between Cas’s knowledge of all things campus, and Dean’s knowledge of all things pop culture, they’d managed to make it through the list in record time. One final task was stretched out in front of them, the finish line in sight. 

“I know but… I don’t know if it’s worth this,” Cas paused in the middle of the road, staring wordlessly at the house. 

“You know there are no such things as ghosts right?” Dean urged him. “And besides, I’ll be here to protect you. We’re so close, we can’t just turn back now.” He stopped with him and reached out, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers. He tugged him closer and kissed the top of his head. “We’ll be out of here in no time.” 

“Logically, yes I acknowledge that ghosts are not plausible. However, my irrational side does not like to cooperate with my logical one,” Cas licked over his dry lips and he squeezed Dean’s hand tightly. His heart was racing from nerves and he was nearly chewing off his bottom lip. “But we are so close to being done. And I guess as long as you’re there…” he trailed off, letting the implication stand and Dean puffed up his chest a bit at the unspoken praise. 

“Like I’d ever leave you,” Dean pointed out and he continued to tug them towards the house. The gate was tall, pointed at the top with no way to really climb over it. Luckily, that wasn’t really needed. Despite the fence being held together solidly by years of ivy growth, the gate had long since fallen crooked, the latches that once kept it in place having rusted over, or been broken by unruly college kids like themselves. Dean had heard the stories that at one point, this house would be used for hazing new pledges of the college’s infamous sororities and fraternities. Supposedly they’d blindfold the newcomers in the middle of the night, drive them out here and leave them in the house for the night. If they left the property they would fail. If they could manage to stay inside until the sun came up they would be rewarded by their newfound brothers or sisters. Dean thought it was stupid. The most that was going to come with that would be bad allergies from all the dust inside, and of course a lack of proper sleep for the next day. Pushing aside tall weeds and hanging leaves, Dean ducked underneath the broken gate, waiting on the other side for Cas to follow. He wasn’t quite as quick to enter the property but after a moment he appeared in the beam of Dean’s flashlight, looking pale. Dean was unsure if it was because of the lighting or because of his fear of going inside. Either way, he pulled Cas against his side as they turned to face the house. Dean had thought it would be difficult to find the carved pumpkin in the dark and deteriorating house. Instead, there it was sitting in the window of the second story house, it’s face lit up and flickering down at them clear as day. He could see the sharp teeth, the glowing eyes almost seeming to move as it sputtered. 

“Good,” Cas said when he let his gaze follow Dean’s finger. He almost let out a relived sigh at the sight. At least they knew where it was. At least they could get in and out as fast as possible and he wouldn’t have to linger around tempt fate or something. He glanced back at Dean, who seemed to be grinning, though Cas wasn’t entirely sure as the lighting, or lack thereof, seemed to distort his features. Even his boyfriend looked a little grim. Cas swallowed thickly and offered him a wobbly smile of his own. 

“Are you ready?” Dean murmured, tugging Cas even closer so he could whisper in his ear. 

Cas shivered at Dean’s breath hitting his ear. He sighed but offered a small nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

Dean took off first through the underbrush, stomping it down with his boots. It was rough and hard to pick through but he let himself make a path for Cas who had a single palm pressed to his back as if to stay close enough behind him so that he wouldn’t disappear altogether. Boots snagged on roots, and stubbed on rocks, and Dean cursed silently under his breath with every misstep but it was better him than Cas. If they had any chance of winning this, he needed to keep Cas willing. 

The porch, when they started out, seemed all too far away. But soon Dean was climbing onto the first few steps, making his steps easy as some of the floorboards seemed to already be rotting, collapsing in some places. On the first few steps, Dean paused, waiting for Cas to get beside him. Then he looked up at the house. It was one thing to see it from the street, but something completely different when you were standing on the porch. The ceiling of the roof was covered in holes, a few wasp nests in the corners. Those of course wouldn’t bother them now that it was night time. The pillars that held up the porch used to be stone it seemed. Well, they were still stone, but now they too were covered in climbing ivy, eroding them bit by bit. The porch wrapped around a turret, rounded sunroom, and an old rocking chair was wasting away in front of those windows. 

Cas seemed to be in awe of it, despite the tension in his shoulders that made it very clear he was still ready to bolt at any moment. He was staring at the railings, hand carved obviously, the molding around the doorway, the glass windows, some of which were still intact if not a little dusty. 

“I bet it used to be beautiful back in the day,” Cas hummed, craning his head in an attempt to see further around the porch despite not wanting to leave Dean’s side. 

“Yeah. I could imagine living in a place like this… or what it used to look like I guess. Maybe one day we’ll get one of these for ourselves,” Dean teased him, giving him a small nudge. 

“Maybe-“ Cas cut himself off when a chill blew through them, the breeze rustling fallen leaves across the porch, sending the old rocking chair creaking back and forth. He jumped, pressing his face into Dean’s shoulder. In return, Dean wrapped his arms around Cas and rubbed his back. 

“Literally just the wind,” he gave him a lopsided grin but still he kissed the top of his head in the most protective way. “Let’s get inside before it gets much colder.” He was bundled in his brown leather jacket that kept him protected from the wind, but come a certain time of night, the chill still managed to reach his skin. Cas was only wrapped in his long sleeved Halloween shirt that Dean had bought him a week ago, and his usual trench coat which wasn’t anywhere near as thick as Dean’s jacket. 

Dean stepped away, carefully tip-toeing across the creaking floorboards towards the front door which was conveniently ajar. He assumed this was because someone had recently been here. Probably whoever had put the pumpkin up in the window. He tested the door as he pushed it in. It swung open with another strong breeze, dust flying up into Dean’s face. He covered his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his jacket as he stepped inside. 

Cas watched Dean and he pulled the collar of his coat over his nose as well as he stepped inside. Once the dust had settled he let it fall and took the time to look around. The entire house was fully furnished, couches and love seats collapsing in on themselves around a wooden coffee table. In the corner, the stereotypical creepy piano sat, a couple of the keys missing it seemed. Cas shivered again, the chill having nothing to do with the cold weather. The staircase wasn’t right in the front of the room, so it could only be assumed it was deeper into the house. That was certainly somewhere Cas wasn’t very willing to go, however Dean had already set off, looking around at it all. 

“Weird. It’s like the whole family just packed up and left. Didn’t even take any of their stuff,” he spoke from the hallway and Cas skittered around to meet him, freezing in place when the sound of the front door slamming registered in his ears. He felt his blood run cold as he turned around him, taking deep breaths. The door was firmly in place now and his mouth went dry. 

“You okay?” A hand was on his shoulder and Cas jumped about a foot in the air, turning around and relaxing only when he saw Dean’s face. 

“The d-door…” Cas jerked his thumb over his shoulder and stepped ever closer to Dean as his boyfriend looked up at the now closed front door. 

“It’s probably just the wind again. This old place is drafty as fuck. A strong breeze could probably knock over a wall, let alone closing the door,” Dean brushed it off, logical as ever. Castiel didn’t seem quite as convinced in the innocence of the matter but he nodded anyways. They were already here, already in the house. To leave now seemed almost pathetic to him. 

Cas looked back up to Dean. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness and he could make out Dean’s features. Not well mind you, but enough that it was a comfort to him. 

“Upstairs?” he asked him and Dean nodded, rubbing his back gently. Then he made his way back into the hall he’d come from and Cas followed him. 

It was obvious once he stepped inside what exactly Dean had been talking about earlier. It wasn’t just the furniture left behind. On the wall there was a built in bookcase, teeming with books of all shapes and sizes, knick knacks littering the space left behind. Then there were photographs, old framed ones that still had so much detail, probably from the lack of light hitting them. They were still faded and worn but if you shone a flashlight onto them then you could still make out the little girl in the floral print dress, sitting on her grandfather’s knee. Or the older gentleman in a suit, his eyes a little crazy, and his mustache too unkempt in Castiel’s opinion. There were more like this, lining up and down the hall. Not one had been moved, or taken with the family when they left. It really did seem like whoever had once lived here had just left without so much as a second glance to their possessions. What would make someone leave so quickly? 

Cas didn’t have much time to think on that though as Dean was already continuing down the hall, the little light the flashlight gave off growing even dimmer. He almost ran into his boyfriend when he rounded the corner and found Dean stopped in the middle of the room. The squeal that left his mouth was anything but manly but Dean didn’t seem to mind. 

“What is it?” Cas tilted his head at the spot on the floor that Dean’s flashlight was currently illuminating. 

“Footprints.” Dean was staring at them, settled into the dust, wondering if someone had managed to make it into the house before them. But that couldn’t be possible. In a creaky old house like this, surely they would have heard it if someone else had been walking around inside. Instead they had been greeted by silence ever since the door slammed. Honestly, perhaps too silent. 

“Is someone else in here?” Cas grabbed onto Dean’s arm, shaking the beam of light ever so slightly. “How would someone else be in here? Wouldn’t we have heard them?” 

“I would think so…” Dean looked back at him. “I don’t know. Maybe whoever put the pumpkin there,” he said suddenly. Clearly that had to be it. Maybe they’d taken this path to get up the stairs and took another one down. That would explain why there were no footprints trailing back this way towards the front door. However, it wouldn’t explain why the footprints seemed to vanish once they reached the middle of the room. It simply wasn’t possible. But he wasn’t going to mention that to Cas who already seemed to be freaked out about the whole experience. 

He could see the stairs on the other side and taking Cas’s hand in his he pulled him through, purposely scuffing over the footprints with his own boots, obscuring them as much as possible. The stairs here seemed to be more solid than the ones outside that had been victim to the elements and Dean felt more confident as he stepped onto them. Of course he still moved carefully, not about to get hurt on a stupid scavenger hunts. 

The sound of Cas’s footsteps behind him was the only thing to let him know that the other was still behind him. He didn’t dare look back in the dark and accidentally miss a step or a hole or something. Right before he reached the top of the stairs his phone pinged. Stepping onto the platform and off to the side to make room for Cas he pulled his cell out of his pocket. 

If he were going to be completely honest, he was surprised that he even got any cell reception in this old house. It wasn’t that it was far from civilization, however, just the idea of something technological working in a place so old didn’t seem right. The screen was bright as he turned it on and slid his finger over the screen to open it. He blinked for a second to adjust his eyes and a frown settled on his face once the text came into view. 

“Who is it?” Cas asked him. The phone had lit up Dean’s face, making it clear to see. His furrowed brows and eyes darting back and forth made it clear something wasn’t right. 

“You.” 

“What do you mean me?” As if there weren’t enough things for Cas to worry about in this old house . He pressed up behind Dean and looked over his shoulder. Sure enough there was a text received from Cas just seconds ago, but instead of anything legible that they could pass off, the entire text was filled with gibberish. Random words in the middle of garbled up consonants and apostrophes. Nothing was able to be understood and Dean’s eyes darted to Cas. 

“Did you butt text me?” he asked, searching for an explanation behind it all. Cas was silent as he pulled his own phone from his jacket pocket and turned it on. The brightness blinded him before he quickly turned it down and made his way to his text messages. 

“No… there’s nothing here. It doesn’t even show I was sending anything,” Cas bit down on his bottom lip, frantically scrolling through their conversation as if maybe it got mixed up along the way. But there was nothing there and Dean took it out of his hands when he stopped moving. 

“This doesn’t make any sense, Cas…” Dean handed the phone back. 

“Can we just get the pumpkin and go? Please? I don’t like it here,” Cas whined, shivering again as he pressed in near Dean. 

“Yeah, pumpkin… So close to the damn thing,” Dean looked around the room, pointing down the hall. He’d suddenly become rather mixed up and confused but he was almost positive that the direction he was gesturing was the front of the house. That would otherwise be known as where the room with the pumpkin was. 

This time they both moved together. There was no lurching ahead as they walked the cramped hallway. A few of the doors had come off their hinges over the years but the ones at the front of the house were all intact and all closed. They’d have to search all of them to find the pumpkin because for the life of him Dean couldn’t remember which window he’d seen it in. 

“It would probably be faster if you checked one room and I checked the other,” Dean offered but Cas’s eyes went wide. 

“Do we have to? You said we’d stay together…” Cas’s tongue felt like cotton in his mouth. 

“We will be together. Just keep the door open and call if you need anything. If you think our dorm room walls are thin then these must be even thinner. You could probably hear me breathe if you wanted to.” Dean grabbed his shoulder in what he supposed was a comforting measure. But Cas looked none too convinced on the matter and was shivering slightly. The movements could be felt in Dean’s palm and he wasn’t sure whether it was from the chill in the air or from Cas’s own nerves. “I’ll be right here. Don’t sweat it.” 

Seeing as Dean didn’t seem like he was going to be swayed on the matter Cas eventually conceded. Besides, he didn’t want to seem too much like a wimp. Sure he was scared, but he wasn’t a baby. So Dean took the room at the left end of the hall and Cas took the one right in the middle. 

While Dean opened the door at the end of the hall, Cas peeked into the one in the middle. In his mind he’d presumed that it would be easy to check to see if the pumpkin was in the window. He didn’t take into account that only the front of it was lit. And even if that hadn’t been an issue, there was a giant looming shadow in the middle of the room. Massive, the figure loomed over most everything, and Cas nearly screamed. Even once he realized it was just an armoire pulled into the middle of the room, his heart was beating so quickly he could feel it pulsing against his ribcage. Cas stepped inside, wringing his hands as he looked around. He pulled out his phone to use as a light source since Dean still had the flashlight with him. 

The room had shelves on all sides filled with antique dolls with glass eyes, a small twin sized bed with lace covers, and small dressed were laid out over various pieces of furniture as if waiting to be put on. Almost everything was covered in antiques or furniture. All except for one space against the wall that had clearly held the armoire. Cas didn’t even want to think about why someone had moved it to the middle of the room. If the light cast downwards he could see deep scratches in the wooden floor where it had been forcibly pushed or dragged there. Something or someone had left it there intentionally before leaving in such a hurry that it was never put back. 

As he rounded the piece of furniture, his sleeves brushing against a bookshelf, Cas could feel the air get significantly colder. He rubbed at his arms, and took a deep breath, the musty air ticking the back of his throat and sending him into a coughing fit. Between all of this he looked up enough to notice an empty window staring back at him, the panes making it look like eyes and a gaping mouth. 

By now it seemed that outside, the clouds had parted, allowing the moon to come out because the light was streaming in, accenting all the dirt on the floor, blocked only by occasional branches. He had stepped forward to look outside when he heard the scratching coming from the corner. It was very distinct and Cas held his breath. It was the same side of the room where Dean was supposed to be on the other side of the wall and Cas frowned. 

“Dean if that’s you, then knock it off. It’s not funny,” Cas called out, but he received no response and the scratching persisted. “Dean! I’m serious! Please just stop-“ Suddenly something skittered across his foot and he screamed, backing up and knocking into the armoire. Everything from there seemed to happen in a flurry. Something was on top of him, something large. It was cold, maybe damp, and when Cas through it to the ground in his panic all he saw were large brown eyes looking back at him, staring, dead. 

Spinning around he bolted for the door that was now closed. He knew he hadn’t closed it. He’d left it open just like Dean said they would so he could call out to him. His fingers scrambled for the door handle but it wouldn’t budge. The handle wouldn’t turn one way or the other, and there was the scratching again. Cas’s breaths were coming in shallow pants and he resorted to beating on the door, screaming for Dean who was suddenly on the other side. But even his voice couldn’t calm Cas down. 

After what felt like forever of struggling, the door finally swung open. Cas collapsed in Dean’s arms the second he reached him and Dean held onto him even as Cas tried to pull and run. He was breathing heavily and Dean kept him in the hallway, holding him until he calmed down. 

“There was- scratching and… dead eyes,” he panted and Dean rubbed his back. Even Dean seemed a little shaken, but after a moment he made it his mission to investigate. Despite Cas’s best efforts to keep Dean right there with him, Dean told him to wait in the hall while he ventured into the room. For a while, too long in Cas’s opinion, it remained silent from in the room. Then- 

“Cas! I think I figured out what happened,” Dean was chuckling. “C’mere.” 

Surely Cas didn’t want to go back in, but at the same time he was curious. If Dean had figured it out then there was obviously a logical explanation for what happened. So he stepped back over the threshold into the room, looking at Dean who was standing there with holding a life size doll of a little girl. 

“This must’ve been what fell on you. From inside this big cabinet,” Dean tapped it with the doll’s head. 

“What about whatever ran over my foot?” Cas asked. In response, Dean pointed his flashlight to the ground. The dirt Cas had seen earlier by the window wasn’t dirt at all. It was rat droppings. He could see their shape now that he was paying attention. That didn’t make it very much better, however, he supposed if he had to choose between rats and ghosts, he’d take rats any day. “And the door?” he asked then. “But don’t say it was just the wind. There’s no wind up here and a draft wouldn’t close the door and then lock it.” Dean had opened his mouth to respond but he closed it again because Cas was right and he knew it. Just another unexplainable thing and Dean didn’t like things that he couldn’t explain. Especially since it had trapped Cas in there, separated them. “I don’t know…” he finally admitted. 

“Can we just go? Forget about this whole scavenger hunt thing? I know we’re close but it’s… not worth it.” Cas was still pretty shaken up at the moment and he swallowed thickly. 

“Just one more room. It’s the last room at the front of the house. It has to be there,” Dean was clearly too into winning at this point. In his mind they’d come too far to turn back now. This time Cas didn’t even try to argue. He rationalized that after all this they did deserve good compensation for it. 

So for the last room they both opened the door together, fully expecting to find the jack o’ lantern sitting on the windowsill. Only it wasn’t. There was nothing there and no sign that anything had been sitting there in years. A thick layer of dust had piled up and not even a speck of it had been disturbed. 

“This doesn’t make any sense. Where the hell is the pumpkin?” Dean looked around. “It has to be here.” He looked down into the front yard, right where they’d stood when they saw the thing. “Where could it be?” 

A creak sounded behind them and when Dean turned back to look, only empty space greeted them. But then there were a few more, down the hallway… footsteps. He held his breath, reaching out and grabbing Cas who had let out a small whimper. 

“There’s something in here,” Cas breathed out, words muffled as he hid his face in Dean’s shoulder. He suddenly felt like such a baby, sitting there waiting for Dean to protect him. He wasn’t a coward. Give him almost anything and Cas could conquer it with ease because there was logic involved. Place him on top of a tall building with a glass floor and he’d be fine because logically the glass would have cracked by that point, before anyone could have walked on it. He would be fine. Spiders weren’t anything bad. They ate insects like mosquitoes and they were just as scared of humans as most humans were scared of them. Serial killers were psychologically messed up but at least you could see them. Ghosts however, anything paranormal, made Cas feel helpless. How could one rationalize something that couldn’t be proven to exist? 

Dean had even stiffened by this point. How could someone have snuck up here all that time ago and they hadn’t heard them until now? This time as they made their way back into the hall, Dean was holding the flashlight high, not only as a light source but also as a possible weapon. A dark shadow disappeared into a room closer to the back of the house and Dean set his jaw. 

“Dean, where are you going?” Cas whimpered as he tried to pull him back. “I don’t care what it is. I don’t care where the pumpkin is. I just want to go.” 

Of course Dean stopped then, looking back at Cas who looked absolutely terrified. Whatever… whoever it was back there, could rot in here for all he cared at the moment. Dean was done with this. The pumpkin had vanished, he had no idea where it might be, and things just weren’t quite right in this place. So with a small nod, he backtracked to the staircase, letting Cas go down first. Dean followed behind him, ignoring the hair standing up on the back of his neck with the feeling of someone watching him. He nudged Cas a little faster and they headed for the front door the second their feet hit the first floor. 

Cas reached it first and it was like déjà vu. The thing wouldn’t open. Dean tried it and still it wouldn’t budge. The handle would turn but he couldn’t move it more than a centimeter before it closed again. 

Footsteps sounded on the floor above them again before the sound of something being dragged across the floor. Dean didn’t want to stick around to see what it was and Cas seemed more desperate to get out than even he was at this point. 

“Back door?” Dean asked and they both bolted for it, him pushing Cas ahead of him to get out. Only he slammed into Cas’s back once they reached the kitchen. “What is it?” Dean asked, wondering what could be so terrifying to get Cas to stop running. But he didn’t even need Cas to answer him because then he saw it, the jack o’ lantern sitting on top of the kitchen table, orange eyes flickering at them. “How…?” 

“I see you boys finally found it, huh?” A voice rang from the stairs making both Dean and Cas jump. Footsteps, the same they’d heard earlier, rounded the corner from the hallway, and a short redhead appeared in the doorway. She was giving them a smile and a small laugh. “I was wondering how long it was going to take you.” 

“Charlie, what the hell is going on?” Dean sputtered and he reached out to grab the pumpkin from the table. 

“What do you mean? As Event Planner of the student government it’s my job to plan events… and congratulate the winners of the scavenger hunt. Duh,” she rolled her eyes at them. 

“You were the one upstairs?” Cas frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Well yeah. I thought it would be fun to scare you guys,” Charlie shrugged, gently tossing a strand of her long red locks over her shoulder. “It is Halloween after all.” 

“But… how did you lock the front door?” Cas asked then, letting his arms fall just as quickly as he crossed them, and rubbing his sweaty palms over his jeans. 

“We didn’t. That old thing wouldn’t lock even if we wanted it to.” 

“We?” Dean cocked an eyebrow. 

“Yeah. Me, Garth, Jo, Benny… Benny was the one holding the door shut.” 

Dean stood there for a second thinking it over. It did make sense. After all, Benny was nearly twice Dean’s size and used to play football so he was a hell of a lot stronger. “And the one upstairs…?” he asked then and Charlie frowned. 

“No, that wasn’t us. I didn’t go up until after you guys went upstairs. Must be a faulty lock or something. Or like the wood expanding. You know how old things are,” Charlie shrugged and she started for the front door. Both of the boys and Jo were on her tail, not wasting any time in finally getting outside. Both Benny and Garth were standing on the porch, giving them amused looks and proceeding to taunt them, claiming they could hear their screams from outside. Dean didn’t even bother to argue that he hadn’t been screaming at all. He assumed they were just joking anyhow. 

Picking their way back across the yard, then under the gate, Dean didn’t relax until they were back on the road. Once they were edging up onto the streetlights once more Cas too relaxed a little, leaning heavily into Dean’s side. Up until then they’d all been talking about Halloween, the rest of the scavenger hunt party, normal things. But before they’d made it to the stop sign, Cas had poked Charlie on the shoulder and they all stopped talking, waiting to hear what he had to say. 

“So, if you didn’t go upstairs until after us, how did you manage to get the pumpkin back downstairs without us seeing you?” 

Charlie stopped in the middle of the road, giving him a quizzical look. “What are you talking about? I didn’t put the pumpkin upstairs. Those stairs looked like a death trap. I wasn’t about to walk on them without knowing they could hold my weight… no, the pumpkin was on the kitchen table the whole time,” she shook her head then started walking again. 

Cas glanced up at Dean who felt a little queasy. They both knew what they had seen. It was clear as day, the grinning face in the window. And when they glanced back at the house at the end of the road, if they squinted, they could swear they saw, even then, the glow of a light in the upstairs window.


End file.
